Clemens to New York? Huff an “Impact”? McGwire in Hall?

• It looks like the Yankees may be trying to make room for Roger Clemens. And it may make sense if you think about it. Jon Heymann makes several points in his latest review of the Clemens’ saga, but one line sticks out: “The word going around is that while Clemens loved the convenience of home, he also misses the drama of New York.” Competitors like Clemens thrive on the drama and exhilaration the big stages brings.

Not to mention the fact that the Yankees provide an opportunity for him to win 15 games or more over a full season even if he doesn’t have his best stuff. Clemens won’t find himself in too many 1-0 or 3-2 games in the Bronx.

• Almost daily, the Astros roster becomes more set in stone. This time, the rumors of Brad Lidge-to-Boston have now been put asunder, according to the Boston Globe. So, unless something comes along that gives the Astros a windfall in trade, expect to start the season with Qualls-Wheeler-Lidge anchoring the bullpen.

• The Astros are said to have mild interest in bringing Mark Loretta back. That’s one possible move that makes sense, especially since he could also play first base as a reserve. If Chris Burke is the designated center fielder, he needs to play center field and not shuffle back in forth replacing Craig Biggio late in games or on his days off. That job should fall to Eric Bruntlett – or possibly Loretta.

• It’s all a matter of perspective, I suppose. If he had played in Houston, Huff would have probably hit sixth and played third or right. In Baltimore – the American League East nonetheless – Huff is called an “impact hitter” and is projected to hit third or fourth – and play left field. Should the Astros have signed him for the 3 years, $20 million the Orioles paid for him? They’ll probably end up paying Ensberg around $5 million this year and perhaps $6-7 million if he is still here in 2008.

What gripes me the most about the Huff story is that the Astros didn’t offer him arbitration. By not doing so, there is no compensation and he was merely a rental player. In return the Astros have nothing and gave up two prospects, one of which will start the season on Tampa Bay’s major league roster. The other — Mitch Talbot — went 4-3 with a 1.90 at AA after the trade.

The Padres worked the system and may have as many as nine of the top 100 picks in next year’s draft. Talk about replinishing your farm system!

Conversely, the Astros handed San Diego two picks when they signed Woody Williams before the arbitration deadline. It’s a matter of knowing and working the system. The Padres did, the Astros didn’t.

• The projections are out for new multi-millionaire Barry Zito. ZIPS projects a 14-11 record with 216 IP and a 4.00 ERA in 34 starts. Best-case scenario according to ZIPS is 18-9. I just don’t get it. If Zito was an attraction like Clemens or Randy Johnson in his prime, maybe so. But fans aren’t going to stand in line to see him, especially if the Giants finish third or fourth in the NL West (which they are likely to do).

• Hall of Fame votes are due. If you had a vote, who gets in? I agree that players who used illegal drugs ought to be held accountable. I agree their career numbers should be held in question. Baseball should have dealt with the issue in the early ’90s. If they had, we wouldn’t be facing the dilemma today.

But since we don’t know the entirety of the situation — which players did and which players didn’t — can we hold one player accountable (e.g. Mark McGwire) even though others are probably guilty, but will get in just because we didn’t know they used the stuff?

Here’s another question for you: If a player is voted in this year and he’s revealed to have used performance-enhancing drugs next year, should he be removed from the Hall?

44 Responses

“Actually, Sturt, very few pitcher break the 7 per start barrier nowadays”

Derek, I think your comment validates Sturt’s point in a way.

It sounds to me that his contention is that because there are few guys in the rotation who can be counted on for 7+ innings (Oswalt and Jennings, I believe), that the need for a twelfth reliever exists.

If we don’t have guys that can get past the seventh inning (and that isn’t the biggest problem with some of our starters), middle relief is an issue because the Astros don’t want to overwork Qualls, Wheeler, and Lidge.

It’s probably not a big deal early in the season, but in August and September the 12th guy could take up some of the slack and allow the big three in the ‘pen to rest up a little for the playoffs.

That said, I’d rather have the roster spot be taken by a guy who could spell either Ausmus or Biggio, since it’s likely that neither of them will hit their weight.

On the Rocket – Bottom line, I think he’s in Houston if he decides to play (which I think he will). Main reasons – NYY is going to sign on for the half season thing if that is what RC wants to do – while everyone would like to have Roger for at least half a season, the Yankee brass has already made some statements about “a full year”. The second issue is paying for him – BOS doesn’t have the ability to add revenue by adding Clemens (every game already sold out), the Yankees really don’t either, and for both these teams with their current payroll situations, RC costs $22 mil + 40% luxury tax (assuming he stays at his current number). But we will see! The Yankees have the financial capacity to handle RC no matter what it costs, BOS doesn’t ($51 million to talk to Dice-K), but it looks like they are going all out with this likely being Schillings last hurrah.

On Loretta – he is a really good player and a very positive, veteran influence in the club house, but will he take a purely back up role AND what do the Astros do about the fact that he can’t play short? It would mean keeping Bruntlett (forgone conclusion since he is already signed) and Loretta – which squeezes Lamb for playing time and roster position.

On keeping 12 pitchers – first off, in principal, I agree with you shea – having another option for the back up guys is truely desirable, but you start getting into the issue of using up your minor league options, moving guys up and down, to cover injuries or if you need another arm because the bullpen is spent, etc. – we have too much emerging talent to waste these options and have it result in guys having to pass through waivers when a major injury results in the need to add someone long term. I know this is “planning for the rainy day”, but it is the part of the GM’s job that makes it hard work – thinking about all those situations.

On Huff – first the trade, Zobrist wasn’t going to be in an Astros uniform for at least 2 more years (2008 is Everett’s walk year), but he was a real prospect. Tolbert may or may not be a ML pitcher someday, but he was not better than what was and still is ahead of him – still losing them for a half season rental kind of insures that they both will be better for TB than Huff was for Houston. All that said, he didn’t have a place in the Astros organization, so I have no issue with him not returning. Even though it means that it was a bad trade – from an Astros perspective.

Another starter – the more I think about it, the more I want to Astros to bring M Redman into Spring Training – the issue will be whether or not this is doable with an NRI situation or whether he will need a ML contract (if so, do it 1 + 1, that means one yr contract with a team option – likely going to cost ~$3 million plus the buyout). I really want RC to play the whole year – a real final year – and do it for the Astros, if he makes that commitment, then no need for this idea to be carried out. And I am not really sure that Redman could actually crack the starting 5 if RC isn’t there – I just can’t give up on Wandy yet and I think Sampson and Albers are both the real deal. But he (Redman) has proven he can win 10+ with a very lousy defensive team, so who knows what he could do in Houston – crossing fingers because it is much easier to reach the Crawford Boxes than the LF seats at Kauffman!

Jennings will get signed for 3-4 years, likely for Suppan type money in 2008 and 2009, then $12 mil the last two years and the option year – hopefully, he is worth it.

Last thing for this post this morning – as of right now, assuming that everyone is healthy on all clubs, MIL has arguably the best starting staff going into 2007 – that will be fun!! The Cubs dominated the Cards in ’06 so they will want to reverse that big time in ’07, the Astros are better (offensively!) than last year and the year before when they won (barely) the seasons series with the Cubs and now the Brewers should route them as well. I am thinking that the NL WC will come out of the Central in 2007, with the Dodgers and Padres fighting for the NLW and its still too early to make a call (IMO) on the NLE.

Rocky>> “…So he almost certainly would have accepted the Astros one yr arbitration deal over the Baltimore 3 yr at 6.33 M/yr.”

Everyone says they want to play for a winner, but Baltimore, KC, Cubs, and other keep signing players. So take that into consideration.

And frankly, one year of Huff at $7-8 million wouldn’t be a bad thing. THREE years at that price was the problem. So by my measuring stick, gambling on Huff for one year or getting draft picks if he leaves are two OK options. And I agree with Chip that in early December he would have declined, still believing that $20-25 million was around the corner.

Ditto Clemens and Andy. No way Clemens would have committed; Andy a longshot. But again – what are you losing? A guaranteed year for either or both if they say yes versus A-level compensation if they go elsewhere is another good deal. Even if they both float high numbers and win, that gives us #2 and #3 behind Oswalt, and adding Jennings at #4 makes us a hell of a lot deeper than we are now. And you know the arb cases would settle in the middle, they almost always do.

>>Looks like Purpera knows a little more about how the system works that a lot of you bloggers.

Actually, I think I just proved that he doesn’t.

TimPuppet’s (read: Drayton’s) decisions meant this:

* I don’t want Huff in 2007 unless it’s 1-2 million.

* Andy will give us a hometown discount if he decides to play…or…trainers say Andy’s elbow will fall off in 1-2 years

* I don’t want to aggravate Roger by seeming to put pressure on him, he knows we’ll pay him major jack to stay.

Chip, I agree with you about the Astros’ failure to offer arbitration. Yes, Huff wanted a mult-year contract and likely would have declined arbitration. However, it’s not just the Huff decision, but rather the overall strategy of not offering arbitration to any of the eligible free agents. The Astros had 4 guys who could bring first round picks and didn’t offer arbitration to one. This is particularly poor judgement when the team was already without any 1st or 2d round picks (due to signing Lee and Williams). To me, the easiest decision would have been offering Pettitte arbitration. If he really wanted to go to NYC, he would have declined it, plus it would have hurried up his decision. If he accepted it, the Astros would have retained Pettitte but without the second year option which supposedly was the main sticking point to re-signing him. The Astros’ failure to try for even one 1st round pick is so inexplicable it makes me wonder if McLane decided he did not want to pay 1st or 2d round slot bonuses this year after the big contract was given to Lee.

Great evaluation of the Astros lineup for last year to next. A little optimistic, but certainly realistic. I think a lot of people fail to recognize the differnce between “holes” and “question marks.” The Astros only have two of the former (Everett, Ausmus), and maybe two or three of the latter (Ensberg, Scott, and maybe Burke). Everything else is pretty much an adequate and known commodity at this point, though there are always surprises. I still think Biggio will be good for the first half, but he will wear down soon after the break.

Sturt, Good call on the Huff and “Lidge for Beckett” topics. However, do me a favor: If you’re going to condescend to one of the more informed posters (shea) on this blog, don’t follow it up by saying something ignorant yourself. You quoted shea below:

“The Astros could make room for Loretta by not being stupid and carrying 12 pitchers.”

Then you commented,

“I’m not sure this even merits a response, but giving the benefit of a doubt…Your starting rotation features exactly TWO starters that you can hope to get 7-8 innings from on-average. That is the case EVEN IF you get Roger back…”

Let’s stop there for a second…Actually, Sturt, very few pitcher break the 7 per start barrier nowadays. A pitcher who stayed healthy (ie. started 35 games) and went 7 per, would log at least 245 innings. 8 innings per would mean 280. Not too many folks living in that neighborhood anymore.

But you continue to ride shea:

“So, YOU KNOW going into the season that your need for middle relief is going to be at a premium.

Yet, you would argue that it is “stupid” to carry 12 pitchers. Pardon me??? Did you write that on purpose or did your keyboard have an epileptic attack?”

I just can’t help myself. What can I say? I love numbers, so I’m just going to throw some stats out there (actual stats, for the record, that didn’t originate anywhere near my butt, unless by “my butt” we mean to say “mlb.com”). So here goes: let’s look at the Astros rotation’s “innings per” for last year and this.

Oswalt averaged about 6.9 inn/start (one of the best in the league). We can expect the same this year–maybe even a little better if he doesn’t have any little injuries like last year. Pettitte averaged a little over 6.1 IP per start. Not bad, but compare that to Jennings’ average last year of 6.6 per start (significantly better). As far as #3’s, Williams averaged just under 6.1, while Clemens averaged just under 6.0, so we are better with all three top starters. I’m not saying the innings will necessarily be the same quality, but we will get more innings from our rotation this year (probably at least 30-40 more over the season), which means WE DON’T NEED 12 PITCHERS ON THE ROSTER. If Clemens comes back, things look even better, as he replaces one of the younger, less durable guys. Compound this with the fact that very few teams carry 12 pitchers, except for brief stints here and there, and the Astros have much better rotations than most, and keep in mind that we let Springer go so we could carry a reliever who could effectively go more than one inning in relief (so we stand to gain innings from his spot as well).

All this seems to suggest that the Astros shouldn’t (and probably won’t) carry 12 pitchers on the roster this season. In fact, their loss of a little speed and defense this offseason is yet another reason they should opt for the extra position player rather than another relief pitcher who may only pitch every 10 days or so.

Rocky, here’s my reasoning on offering arbitration to Huff. Teams had to offer arbitration to their free agents by December 1. Players had until December 7 to accept or reject. At that point in time, Huff was asking for a 3 or 4 year contract in the neighborhood of $30-$36 million and he thought he would get it. So he thought he could hit it big. Unless he had signaled the Astros he would accept arbitration, he was more likely to play out the free agent side of things.

Obviously, Purpura is sitting in the chair and has more information to work with, but I merely referenced the Padres’ scheme (see the blog entry) as they will have up to nine picks in the first 100 picks as a result.

In the case of Clemens and Pettitte, do you think they would have accepted arbitration in the designated window (Dec. 1-7)?

I don’t understand the complaints about not offering Huff arbitration. This decision seems pretty smart to me. He made just under $7 M last year. It is extremely rare that arbritation decisions result in a player taking a cut in pay. So, his number was going to be somewhere around 7.5M to 8M for 2007. He stated his desire to stay here and play for a contender (which Balt is not). So he almost certainly would have accepted the Astros one yr arbitration deal over the Baltimore 3 yr at 6.33 M/yr. Then, he would take his chance at the excalating FA market next year. So, if we had offered him arbitration, it really wasn’t a decision around getting the draft choice, because he would not have accepted the Baltimore deal. Looks like Purpera knows a little more about how the system works that a lot of you bloggers.

I think it’s dumb for any team to carry 12 pitchers. But, that’s just me prefering to have more roster flexibility and another hitter (especially when Houston looks to have a couple platoon situations in the field) than someone like Wandy pitching a couple times a week and logging about 50-60 below-average innings.

Perhaps Garner should employ some of Dierker’s strategy of sticking with starters longer.

All Houston’s projected pen, save maybe Nieve if he’s in the pen, look to be durable and able to throw multiple innings. I just don’t think it makes sense to carry seven relievers all season. Maybe for certain stretches, however.

For the record … Loretta batted .285 in 635 ABs for the BoSox. He his 5 HRs, and had 59 RBIs. In 119 ABs, Bruntlett had 10 RBIs, no HRs and batted .277. (Odd thing about Loretta is he has a .179 average indoors … but that probably is more a reflection of his bad turf vs. grass average. Not many indoor grass parks in the AL).

Would I rather have Loretta? Sure. He’s proven he can play over a long season. But we’re not going to get a guy who logged 635 ABs last season and have him agree to back up Biggio for half the year.

Folks, here’s what we’re looking at for the lineup (though not the batting order) in 07, and look at it compared to 06.

1B. Lance Berkman. All-star, MVP candidate guy.

2B. In 06 it was all Biggio almost all the time. He played in 145 games and logged 129 at second base. In 07 it will be non-stop Biggio for the first month and a half. After that he’ll do a farewell road tour (one road start per series) and start all home games (where he batted .298). Since we won’t get Loretta, it’ll be Bruntlett on the road. But Bruntlett for 60 or 65 starts and Biggio for the rest will be an improvement over Biggio starting all but the day after night games in 06.

SS. Everett is still Everett. If he bats over .250 we should all be thankful, and considering he’s the best defensive SS in the NL, he’ll be worth it.

3B. Ensberg and Lamb. Either one can be very good. Platooning them can get the best out of them. I can’t believe that Ensberg will be as bad as in 06, but if he is, pull the trigger on more Lamb at third. This is an improvement as well. Oh, and for those looking for signs of a Mo rebound, he was exceptional in April (.329 average, 1.232 OPS) until he hurt his hand. After his rest on the DL, he hit .209 in August and .273 in September with 3 HRs in 44 ABs. If we just have the September Mo for the 07 season, I’ll be thrilled.

CF. Willy “Bunt Again” Taveras in 06. Chris Burke in 07. Offensively, we’re doing better here. Those of you who note that Taveras had a 2-point better average in 06 should look at OBP and slugging and the fact that Burke knows how move runners.

RF: We spent half the season on Jason Lane, and wasted at-bats getting Huff and others playing time in the second half. In 07, it’ll be all Luke Scott until he does something to deserve getting benched. How good was Scott? In 214 ABs (one-third of a season) he batted .336, 10 HRs, 37 RBIs. Let’s see, multiplied by three … that’s still .336, 30 HRs, 111 RBIs. Let’s account for a bit of a dropoff, and just say .285, 22 HRs, 90 RBIs. Yeah. We’re better off.

C. Brad Ausmus and Eric Munson. Sadly, Ausmus may have been the better hitter in 06. Instead, we’ll have Ausmus back and either Quintero or Gimenez in 07. I guess it all depends on whether Quintero or Gimenez can hit, and how much they play in 07. Let’s call this one a wash with the possibility for improvement.

So let’s recap.

1B. We’re strong with Berkman

2B. If we platoon on the road better, we’re better off with Biggio and Bruntlett.

SS. We’re in the same boat with Everett … weak stick but we need his glove.

3B. Unless Mo gets hurt again, we’re certainly better off in 07, just probably not back to 05 levels.

LF. We’re way better off with Lee over Wilson.

CF. We have a real hitter in CF with Burke instead of Mr. Infield Single.

RF. A full year of Luke Scott is a vast improvement.

C. Lord only knows what we’ll get, but the less we see of Ausmus the better

There are two holes in our lineup in SS (a .240 to .250 hitter) and catcher (a .220 hitter if we’re unlucky, maybe better but don’t count on it).

Last year we had these two holes, plus the hole at third, the hole in left field in Wilson, the hole in right field with Lane and 2B was more of a hole, especially on the road. At home, Biggio was practically an All Star, folks. Oh, and if anyone was on base, Willy was a hole in CF.

So, two lineup holes vs. five and a half or six holes. We’ve got a much better offense. If we can prove that in the first month or so, maybe we convince Clemens to come back to us. Which is why I am glad we have a solid bullpen still with Lidge, Wheeler and Qualls.

For the record, the Huff deal was bad the moment we didn’t make the playoffs. At that moment, he became a rent-a-player for a run that did not lead to the postseason. We lose him. We lose the guys we traded. Just bad altogether. It happens. That’s how we got Jeff Bagwell.

Who would I vote for? Gwynn and Ripken are locks.

I also like Baines and Belle and Rice. Dawson and Mattingly are on the cusp for me, and I’d probably vote for them because I’m a nice guy (just ask anyone, they’ll tell you I am …). Lee Smith? Jack Morris? Dave Parker? Possibly. Sorry Cammy.

What gripes me the most about the Huff story is that the Astros didn’t offer him arbitration. By not doing so, there is no compensation and he was merely a rental player. In return the Astros have nothing and gave up two prospects, one of which will start the season on Tampa Bay’s major league roster. The other — Mitch Talbot — went 4-3 with a 1.90 at AA after the trade.

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On this New Year’s Day when football is everywhere, the proper analogy seems to me to be that there’s times when you’re better off throwing the ball away instead of taking a sack…

Vis-a-vis… You don’t improve one bad decision by making a second bad decision… you only compound it.

Vis-a-vis… You don’t give Huff arbitration because you gave too much away when you traded for him.

Either Huff fits in the plan, or he doesn’t.

If Purp could get something of value in trade for Ensberg, sure, that would have been worthwhile. And while Purp can be covert at times, he has been remarkably public that he was entertaining ideas about what to do at 3B for 2007… there is every evidence that Purp did pursue his options on that front, but found nothing worthy of a trigger pull.

Arbitration, on the other hand, would have forced Purp’s hand to either make a bad Ensberg trade or to pay a guy $6 mil (ballpark) simply for the benefit of having insurance sitting on the bench or a draft pick… and that’s just not economically wise, especially when, by so doing, you essentially take away needed flexibility for the 7/31 deadline.

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On Lidge for Beckett… That would make my tickets untouchable for anyone else. What a huge Christmas present that would have been.

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I’m clueless where this idea even came from… all I know is that I only find Astros fans repeating it, which should say something about its viability… Epstein doesn’t buy high, only to sell low immediately after Beckett suffers his worst season. That would be stupid, and speaking of stupid…

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The Astros could make room for Loretta by not being stupid and carrying 12 pitchers.

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I’m not sure this even merits a response, but giving the benefit of a doubt…

Your starting rotation features exactly TWO starters that you can hope to get 7-8 innings from on-average. That is the case EVEN IF you get Roger back…

So, YOU KNOW going into the season that your need for middle relief is going to be at a premium.

Yet, you would argue that it is “stupid” to carry 12 pitchers.

Pardon me??? Did you write that on purpose or did your keyboard have an epileptic attack?

I have no problems with letting Huff go. Sure, he is a relatively productive hitter, but there is simply no place for him in the Astros lineup. If Morgan Ensberg has just an average season, he will be as good as Huff woud be, and probably better. And Luke Scott doesn’t have to duplicate last year’s numbers to out-produce Huff.

I’m also glad the Astros didn’t offer him arbitration. It was fairly obvious early on that Huff was not going to get in free agency what he had made last year. His best chance for a raise was through arbitration. I think if the Astros had offered arbitration, there was a very good chance that Huff may have accepted it, taken the raise for one year, and hoped to play himself into a better free agency contract the following season.

The Astros obviously had no intention of keeping Huff, so not offering arbitration was a good move. I think our lineup is pretty good as is. As much as I enjoyed watching Willy T roam centerfield and leg out triples, I loathed watching him in RBI situations. Having Burke at the top will help both the top and bottom of our lineup. He can drive in Everett and Ausmus when they provide the occasional rally, and he gets on base much more thatn Taveras for the big guys to bring home.

I agree on Huff, as far as his ability to help a team like the stros. He was actually third in slugging behind Berkman and Scott (and slightly ahead of Lamb). Ensberg clearly has more upside potential, but Huff is probably a steady .280 type player with the potential for 80 RBI, and has not really had a “horrible” year during the past four seasons. If Morgan can ever settle on a batting approach he’s comfortable with and stay healty for a full year he has the potential to be one of the better third basemen around, and he’s outstanding defensively.

Hey, here’s a question for everybody: Can Pence catch?? It’s probably ridiculous but just a thought.

* I believe Clemens is going to NY (Andy, closure) or Boston (closure) rather than here (comfort). I really hope I’m wrong – we need him now more than ever. Wonder how Drayton will react if he does?

* I would have liked to have kept Huff but not a that price and term, which would mean he had to play every day (read: Preston Wilson) even if he struggled. Of course if he has a great year and Mo and Luke stiff, I reserve the right to have a spotty memory on this issue.

* Arbitration – we should have offered it to Andy and Roger as well. Huff would have taken the 3 years over the one we’d offer (he can also trend his stats) and locking down Andy/Roger or getting A-level picks in their placewould have been a win-win for us. Now we get nothing with 2 and probably all 3 of them gone.

* HOF: Belle, Blyleven, Dawson, Gwynn, Rice, Ripken, Smith. No McGwire…yet. And I will hold Sosa under the same microscope, as he was one-dimensional like Mcgwire. Palmiero had what must be the quietest HOF-like career in history and was a better overall player, but that committee killed him. If thie “100 Players List” is populated with the sport’s better players, the whole thing goes in the dumper.

And you can’t use numbers like 500 HR as an automatic anymore because it doesn’t mean as much. Dead ball big park sluggers like Frank Howard and Harmon Killebrew would have 7-800 homers in this era. Instead, which players dominated their era (and conditions)?

And yes, I voted for Albert/Joey Belle – he might not be the nicest guy but he was the right kind of monster between the lines.

* Loretta would be nice, but at what cost? Unless they release Palmiero or waive Lane, who goes? If Conrad is ready, I’d rather see him get a shot.

On Huff to Baltimore… Hope he has a good season. I would not have signed him. He brought no more to the table than Ensberg and not as much as Lamb.

On Lidge for Beckett… That would make my tickets untouchable for anyone else. What a huge Christmas present that would have been.

On Mark Loretta to the Stros…That would also be a Christmas present. The guy hits and would be a good interim until we can get Burke to second. Biggio is going to hurt the team there . Bruntlett ought to be the everyday starter for now.

On Clemens to NY. Chips comments are spot on it seems. Clemens wants to play where he can have some offense behind him. He is just a competitor that way…as all professional athletes should be. The Stros have not finished the project they started with the Lee acquisition. They remain a mediocre offense that STILL has at least 4 (maybe 5) holes (apparently) projected to start in the batting linup.

Loretta as a backup 2b would be a coup…but does the roster allow it? Loretta doesn’t play shortstop; so Bruntlett (or Conrad) have to stay on the roster. Assuming Palmeiro remains (which is likely, since he is under contract), then the only way to bring Loretta on board is to replace Lane’s OF spot with Bruntlett as the defensive replacement at all three outfield positions. Possible, but unlikly.

I think the Astros may regret letting Huff go at that salary. He is not an “impact bat” but he is likely to produce a .800+ OPS. I hope I am wrong, because if the Astros don’t regret it, that means Ensberg and Scott both lived up to expectations.

Lidge to Boston was not going to work. Boston really did not have the right fit for a trade. I still think Lidge may prove doubters wrong.

As for Huff…Glad he is going elsewhere.

Huff cannot hit lefties and was not able to prove that he could hit NL pitching last year.

Sure, Ensberg had a poor average last year and has been inconsistent, but how soon so many forget that just the year before Ensberg was an All Star. Huff? Never. Ensberg was a Silver Slugger. Huff? Never.

Bottom line is that Ensberg is definately a risk, but Huff would be no sure thing either, costs too much, and Ensberg has way more potential.

Besides, the Astros at least have a fallback at 3B in Lamb.

I am ok with the Astros not offering Huff arbitration because he might have agreed to it, but I do hate that they lose a draft pick.

However, I really do not understand the Woody Williams signing. I am glad that the Astros signed Williams, but you are right, it made no sense to rush and provide San Diego two draft picks!

The other thing that makes no sense in the Williams signing is the salary. The Astros paid William a fair amount more than last year and he is leaving 9% in California state tax behind. Seems to me the Astros could hav gotten him less than they did.

Loretta would be nice insurance, but he is still more of an everyday player at this point. Probably not the right fit.

As for more signings. Has it not been obvious to everyone since the Lee signing that the Astros were done with offensive signings (even though they need more inprovement?) and obvious after the Jennings desperation trade that the Astros were not signing anymore pitching (evn though the Astors still need another proven starter)?

Astros management never fields a WS contender on paper at the start of a season. They always take the “good enough” approach and if the Astros are competitive at the break look at adding a rent a player impact player often leaving the Astros one or two impact players short of being WS contenders. I don’t agree with the approach, but it should be obvious by now that this is the way the current Astros management operates.

Paying Huff “$18 to $19 million” woulda been a real waste of money for Purpura. Good Riddance, Huff.

Loretta could add quite a bit of stability and “insurance” because we have so many unknowns with the Biggio/Burke situation. The last part of 2006 Biggio was hitting less than .200. Maybe he was fatigued or just slumping or maybe old age has taken his abilities. What if Biggio’s cruddy performance last Sept. is now the typcal base line for Biggio? He’s old and he may stink 24/7.

Bruntlett played regularly for a few weeks when there was an injury and Eric didn’t do so hot.

“I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating, Drayton Mclane and Tim Purpura are idiots”

I think I have a better understanding of why Timmy P. got extended before this uninspiring offseason now.

I mean, it makes sense when viewed through the prism of the entire front office as chimps at typewriters attempting to write Shakespeare. Why hire a smart GM who will make moves (that will likely cost money)? Aside from Carlos Lee and the Hometown Boys (Pettitte and Clemens), Timmy P. hasn’t made an expensive mistake. Sure he threw away prospects, but what do they get paid?

In this vein, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jennings walk next year just like Huff just did today. They’ll probably bungle around and make more stupid trades that decimate the farm. Jennings will likely cost more than McLane wants to pay, so why not start over again.

LeftyDad, I’m not sure I understand your McGwire “one trick pony” comment. I believe most people agree he has the stats to get in. It’s just the steroids issue that confuses the matter. The guy was a 9-time All Star, 1987 Rookie of the Year, won 3 Silver Slugger Awards and finished in the top ten of MVP voting in four different seasons. “Weak defensively”: He had a career .993 fielding percentage and even won a Gold Glove. He had a couple of bad seasons at the end when his back gave him problems, but never made more than 13 errors in a season. No, he wasn’t a .300 hitter, but his .263 career average certainly was respectable. First ballot Hall of Famer if it wasn’t for the steroids issue, don’t you think?

Rita–Good cal on th Clemens fiasco. He may end up with New York, but definitely not for a full season.

Shea–I have to disagree with you on Biggio. If you look at his splits, he is still a very good player (around .290 avg) for the first half. He tends to drop off completely the last couple of months though. Biggio still has the skills (at least hitting-wise) to play in the majors. He’s just too old to last a full season now. I say the Astros are no worse off offensively with Biggio at second base to start the season. The position is his until he plays his way out of it. Once Biggio starts looking old and tired in July or August, though, you’d better have a backup plan. That’s why I still like the Loretta possibility (if he’s cheap enough). He might be worth $2 million or so, since he would be an almost everyday player most of the secind half. Otherwise, we have to hope Bruntlett can fill in adequately, or that we 3 good outfielders in addition to Burke, so he can take over for Biggio.

Happy New Year everybody! Keep up the posts. I don’t get enough Astros talk in Durham, NC.

On the Hall of Fame ballot, the only ones who are a shoo-in are, of course, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripkin. However, if Albert Belle and Andre Dawson, don’t make it within a year or two more, there is no justice in baseball. The Bash Brothers have got the numbers and could slip in one day. Provided it’s raining banana peelings. hee hee. Seriously, I think, unfortunately, they have as good a chance as Pete Rose.

Mark Loretto would give us a great bat as a regular or off the bench. However, unless he can play third as a regular, I don’t think he would sign with any team that can’t guarantee his playing time.

On the arbitration folly, I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating, Drayton Mclane and Tim Purpura are idiots. If they were competent they would have replaced the bats of Beltran and Kent, so that Roger would be in close striking distance of Warren Spahn’s record. However his desire to play at home overcame his good judgement. Same for Pettite. If the Rog has any illusions of winning 350 it’s going to have to be with the Yankees or Red Sox. Good luck to him.

Wow, I like your positive attitude and I hope you are right! Seems to me that Roger doesn’t have anything to prove unless it is to bring a championship to his home town. He has enough money for 1000 lifetimes, and enough wins to be an all-time great. Maybe I am naive, but I think, judging from things he has said, that RC may have priorities other than money at this point.

I still think the Astros should’ve given Huff another look. The MLB article of Sept. 13 entitled “Luck Not on Huff’s Side”, telling how he was routinely hitting into hard outs night after night, reveals my thoughts exactly. While other Astros were striking out and popping up, Huff continued to make good contact in clutch situations. Remember the last game in Arizona when Huff twice ripped the ball with RISP but was robbed, or the last game of the season when he hit that line-shot that Jeff Francour caught at the knees with the bases juiced in the third inning? If these had been aimed a few feet one direction or the other, they would have been game winners and the Astros would have been in the post-season. (And these are only two of many examples, read the article) Synical fans will say that Huff didn’t deliver, but the truth is YOU CAN’T BLAME THE HITTER WHEN HE MAKES GOOD CONTACT! The Astros probably won’t miss him because they’ll have enough fire-power this year, but I do believe Huff can be an impact bat.

I completely agree with Shea in his assessment of how the Steroid issue should be viewed by Hall of Fame voters. (See Shea’s above post)

I also think we’ll be happy if we keep Lidge and Ensberg.

Incidentally, I am a very happily married man (37 yrs) – didn’t mean to scare anybody!

I agree. I saw him last season in Boston and he was a pretty good hitter. Not a lot of power, necessarily, but good contact hitter. He can occasionally come up in the clutch.

“Of course, if that happened, he should really start over Biggio, but I guess I’ve beat that argument to death.”

I’d back you on this too, Shea. Of course, Biggio is going to start until he gets to be Mr. 3000, no matter what the situation. Well, maybe he’ll get pulled in the 9th for a defensive replacement, but that’s about it.

Happy New Year to you too Chip! The seats available for opening day on 16 Feb 07 should be decent ones–at least some in the Club section–hey, I said I’d treat you to the best seats and I’ve found 4 club seats on opening day 2006 as late as early March 2006…this year should be even easier to get those seats…

As far as 350-360 wins is concerned, he can easily do that AFTER the all star break…he doesn’t have to start the season with the Yanks to accomplish that.

He knows the Astros and Red Sox would take him for half a year, why in the world would he give up tossing ball to Koby in Kissimmee for that? If Steinbrenner or Cashman think they can have him for a full season, they’re crazy…the Hendricks Bros have been pushing Roger to go only half a season since the end of the season…and he seems to agree with them with having stated he’ll spend February and March with the young guns in Kissimmee…One thing about Roger, he’s honored his committment to the Astros youngsters more than he has to any big league club…

He’ll go to Florida in February, breaking camp with the minor leaguers in Astros pinstripes…

Let’s see, Rita. Just checked and Continental provides the best service between Baton Rouge and Houston. What seats do you think will be available for Opening Day?

Seriously, I agree that most of the Clemens info is speculation at this point, but I believe there’s a better chance than any of the past three years that Clemens plays somewhere other than Houston. The proximity to 350 and 360 wins and another opportunity at a ring — not to mention the list of question marks in Houston — could provide the allure.

Now, if he doesn’t come back until June, it could provide the Astros an opportunity to “gets the bugs out” and tweak the roster before June.

We’ll see, but I’ll keep checking on those Continental flights! Happy New Year!

Chip, if Clemens changes his publicly stated plans of going to Kissimmee in February to work with the Astros minor league pitchers and signs with the Yankees before 15 Feb 2006, I’ll personally fly you and one other person to Houston on opening day. I’ll even get you the best seats available…that’s how sure I am that Clemens won’t start the season as a Yankee or Red Sox or for anyone else, for that matter.

SI and all the other “major” sports websites/tv/radio/magazines have no clue what Clemens is going to do any more than you or I do.

They were sure last year at this same time that Roger would decide to “have a story book ending to his career in Boston”…remember that one? How did that turn out?

As for Lidge to the Red Sox, I believe it was the Astros who said “Thanks, but no thanks” to the Red Sox offer.

The Astros were fools not to offer/sign Huff a 3 year 18-19 mil deal. If they had, he’d have stayed here. Not offering him arbitration was not foolish though because he would have accepted it and cost the Astros about $8 mil a year. That’s about the 20 percent raise that he would’ve gotten from going to an arbitration hearing. Now we’re stuck hoping and praying MoBerg can be close to his 2005 self.

About Loretta, seriously doubt it happens…there’s no real need for him this year.

“What gripes me the most about the Huff story is that the Astros didn’t offer him arbitration. By not doing so, there is no compensation and he was merely a rental player.”

Give me a break…..If they had offered Huff arbitration, he likely would have been awarded $4M-$6M. I think it was a very prudent business decision, to let him go. It’s part of the business. The O’s are nuts for paying nearly $7M a year for a marginal (at best) utility player.

Loretta won’t come to Houston, unless he has a spot in the lineup. I wish he would, but he won’t. I’m more concerned about finding a 2nd catcher. “Q” can’t hit his weight.

Big Mac doesn’t get my vote, on the 1st ballot. Eventually, he should get in, but he was a “one trick pony”….utilizing a powerful bat, weak defensively, ran like he was waist deep in mud, and couldn’t hit for average.

Several years back, Clemens said he wanted to come home. He then took a hefty contract to go to Toronto of all places. I have no reason to believe history will not repeat in New York this time until he signs here. If he goes, I hope the Yanks appear in the World Series and are defeated by Houston. It’s a longshot I know, but for now I can pretend.

I’m relieved Huff is gone and I think the Orioles will regret coughing up the big bucks.

I hope Matt’s right about Lidge.

I hope Clemens comes back, but like most people now I’m getting a little sick of the ‘game’ he’s playing. The ‘stros have treated him so well, surely some loyalty in return is in order or am I just naive?

If you were Roger Clemens, or even Andy Pettitte would you really want to pitch your last few years here? This team looks far from being a world series contender this year, and they seem to be very reluctant to part with certain guys who should be replaced. I really hate the Yankees and hope Clemens would finish his career with the Red Sox if not here.

I give Huff 3-year, 15 mil. Not a penny more. He was horrible in the clutch and made no impact.

I may be in the minority, but I would be very happy to see Lidge remain the closer. Look at all the pitchers that participated in the World Classic last year. All had down years or were injured…except one, yep the Rocket who took a few extra months off. When pitchers are overworked, they loose control and/or health. A shortened offseason is the best thing that could have happened for our bullpen. Lidge will be LIGHTS OUT again.

If Houston could get Loretta on the cheap, it would be a good deal. Of course, if that happened, he should really start over Biggio, but I guess I’ve beat that argument to death.

If would give the Astros flexibility, though. Loretta could spell Biggio on the road and then Bruntlett would still be available to be the supersub. Also, Loretta could play first some against lefties and Berkman could play right.

Whenever Loretta plays, he’s a very good No. 2 hitter.

Chip, I wouldn’t pay $20M over three for Huff. As a few of us here have said, he’s decline over the past three years (his prime years) is a red flag. I don’t really understand why they didn’t offer arbitration either, though, because I think he would have declined because he knew he’d get three years elsewhere.

As for Big Mac, I probably wouldn’t vote for him initially, but that’s mainly because of the numbers. The guy only has something like 1,600 hits.

At this point, I don’t really care who did or didn’t do steroids, although the gossip-page side of me wants to know the names. What I mean is, all these players played in the steroid era. You simply have to judge the HOF candidates from this era on the merits vs. their peers. Is Bonds the best player of his generation? Yes. He’s in.

Was McGwire? That’s debatable. I certainly don’t think he was better than Bagwell or Frank Thomas.

Ask youself this – can anyone but Cal Ripken be sure he didn’t take anything? I don’t think he did, but the durability would certainly be aided by ‘roids.

So, I just think we have to chalk it up to MLB totally screwing up and judge the players that will be considered from now until about 20 years from now on the numbers vs. the rest of baseball at that time.

Well the Astros lose another player in Huff? We didn’t lose too much the Astros don’t need 2 left-handed batters at third base.. I have a feeling that the Astros will keep Morgan Ensberg. I haven’t any rumors on him going anywhere.

How is the Lidge trade rumor coming along? Is he going to Boston for Josh Beckett & another player.

The Astros need another Catcher Brad Ausmus is going to play all 162 games. Who is out there they can get? How about Javy Lopez? He is still around. Jeff Mathis, or Mike Napoli from the Angels they have 3 catchers Mathis, Napoli, & Jose Molina.

Who is the Astros going to be the No. 3 Starter.

Joe Pineiro, Tomo Ohka, John Lackey.

If the Astros make another trade they can trade Luke Scott, & Humberto Quintero, Wandy Rodriguez to the Angles for Mathis, or Napoli, John Lackey & Chone Figgins. Figgins has speed. He is a switch-hitter he play third base & the outfield..